


Presumed Alive

by RainofAugust



Series: Lana and Viri - KOTET [3]
Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/F, Female Friendship, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, KOTET Spoilers, KotFE spoilers, Lana and Viri - KOTET, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 18:32:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11423712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainofAugust/pseuds/RainofAugust
Summary: After the fateful trip to Dromund Kaas and meeting with Empress Acina, Lana Beniko and Vette share their worries about the Commander, Sith Warrior Viri. Intro to "Presumed Present," which is split from this story due to rating differences.





	Presumed Alive

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: I have decided to split the two chapters into separate stories, simply because the ratings were so far apart and there are two totally separate things going on. 
> 
> Lana and my Sith Warrior just make me want to write about them, endlessly…luckily I had some time to write a bunch of pieces before I got the nerve to post any of it. :) 
> 
> My female Sith Warrior as written is basically my own in-game character, who tends to lean Light Side (but still hated Senya and suffers no fools)…She’s also demiromantic/sexual, and since Lana seems to lean that way too, they really get each other.
> 
>  **Spoilers:** this story is set just after the events of Chapter 2 of Knights of the Eternal Throne (yes, my Sith Warrior took the Dark Side option), and the spoilers kick in right away - so if you haven't played that far in the game, please be aware. 
> 
> There are also spoilers for the Sith Warrior class story and numerous Vette companion missions in SWTOR. The quests Vette mentions are The Final Trial on Korriban, which is part of the Sith Warrior class story, and Test of the Clan, which is available on Tatooine as a side mission before you start KOTFE. My Sith Warrior also had Light Side Jaesa during the original class story, hence the statement about “all of us.” 
> 
> The continuation to this story is "Presumed Present." 
> 
> The tag is Lana/Female Sith Warrior. If it’s not obvious this is a f/f relationship from that, well, I can’t help you.
> 
> Lana Beniko, Theron Shan, Vette, Saresh, Acina and the rest of the gang in the SWTOR universe belong to Bioware/EA, not me.

_19:00, Odessen_

The deception was over, Saresh was dead, and as the entire Alliance could see, their Commander was very much alive. Viri stepped to the front of the platform and surveyed the crowd. 

”Friends, I want to apologize for today’s events,” Viri said. “Leaving you all in a state of flux and uncertainty was never my intention when I went to Dromund Kaas to explore a possible new alliance. I am working with my advisors to ensure that this will not happen again, and that if there comes a time when I am out of contact temporarily, there are protocols in place. Please always presume I am alive and fighting to return to you…not dead.” There was a murmur of approval from the crowd. 

”I am happy to see you all, and I hope the feeling is mutual.” The Alliance cheered. 

”I do bring good news: Empress Acina of the Sith Empire, who was also targeted by Saresh, has formally agreed to ally with us. I know that there is…history… between many of you and the Empire, and that even a year ago, the Empress might have been your adversary. However, please remember that the ordinary people of the Empire are suffering under Zakuul just as much as the ordinary people of the Republic. There are people on those worlds, both Imperial and Republic, who would be our friends if we got to know them, just as we’ve gotten to know each other here, and none of them deserve subjugation. We could not have won the Battle of Voss without the Sith Empire’s intervention, which they offered freely, without condition. We are all here to fight and win together, and free the galaxy from the tyranny of the Eternal Throne. Do you agree?” 

The crowd cheered again. Out of the corner of her eye, Viri saw Theron, Lana and Koth quietly applauding. 

“We have some work to do this evening to repair any damage that may have been caused by this intrigue," Viri said, "But once that's done, I encourage everyone to relax as best they can, and take tomorrow off,” Viri finished. “Thank you for being here.” She stepped down from the platform and walked through the crowd, offering reassurances, hugs and words of support as she did. 

Lana, Theron and Koth followed her as she made her way to the War Room. ”Relax, as best they can? Does that include you?” Lana murmured, leaning in close as they walked out of the elevator. 

Viri raised her eyebrows as she leaned back against Lana. “I would be extremely disappointed if it didn’t include both of us,” she whispered. “My room? 21:00?” 

“As you wish, Commander,” Lana grinned, before moving away to check the long list of messages on the console. 

Viri's face was determined as she paced the room and handed out orders. “Admiral Aygo, Doctor Oggurobb, Sana-Rae: please check in with your departments and reach out to your connections. Make sure our entire network knows what’s happened so there are no misunderstandings. Torian, get in touch with Shae Vizla and bring her up to speed; Gault, Hylo, Blizz, make the calls you need to make. It appears that Saresh was working alone, but just in case, we need to explore the option that she had others behind her. Those of you with connections in the Republic military, if you could see what the chatter is in that regard, it would be helpful. We have Holos of Saresh instructing the bounty hunters as well as her admission of subterfuge just now; disseminate them as needed. And Major Pierce, I’m going to hook you up with Empress Acina’s liason to Imperial Command to see if there’s anyone from Black Ops you’d like to bring in to work with you and Jorgan.” The men and women of the Alliance nodded and left the War Room.

“What should we do with Saresh’s body?” asked Theron.

”She came here with some crew on her own ship, if I’m not mistaken. Let them remove her and deal with the cleanup before they go,” Viri said. “Make _sure_ they handle that, in fact. Our people have other matters to attend to. And please work with T7 to slice that ship’s data and wipe any files pertaining to the Alliance or Odessen before you let them go.”

”Sounds good,” Theron said. “I’ll give the orders.” 

Viri exhaled. “Do you need me for anything else right now?”

”Empress Acina is waiting to talk to you,” Lana said. “Take that call, and then take a break. I'll let everyone know you're resting for the remainder of the day.” Her eyes lingered on Viri before she activated the Holo-call console. 

 

*******

_20:45_

Two people on Odessen had been granted unlimited access to the Commander’s rooms: Lana and Vette. When Lana punched the passcode to the Commander’s suite, she found the latter perched on the back of the couch, cleaning Viri’s armor. 

“Hey, Lana,” Vette grinned. “I figured I’d see you here sooner or later. I just stopped in to take care of this armor. She’s been in the shower for, like, ten hours. She was in there when I came in, actually. Of course, after walking through the jungle all night and going through that tomb, I can’t say I blame her. This armor was rank. It smelled like Korriban, let me tell you. Those tombs had the most horrible stench. Slugs, corpses, dried blood…”

“…and millennia of dirt, decay and sheer misery,” Lana finished the sentence. “My trials were in the tombs, too, and I doubt I’ll ever forget them. It seemed to be the Academy’s favorite place to send hapless acolytes. You were present for Viri’s trials?”

”Yes, the last one. There was part of a tomb that the Sith couldn’t figure out how to unseal to save their lives, literally. I could, so Darth Dummy sent me along with Viri to break the seals and recover some horrible artifact of destruction. I had a shock collar so I wouldn’t run away or turn on her. You know…” Vette involuntarily touched her neck. “…she never shocked me or acted like I was a slave. Not once. The idea seemed to horrify her. The minute we were off Korriban, she threw the collar away and asked if we could be a team. As soon as she had the influence to do so, she bought Imperial citizenship for me so I would never be enslaved again. She bought my sister Tivva’s freedom immediately when I asked her. I found myself wondering exactly what sort of Sith she was. The ones I’d met, up to that point, had not exactly been lovely people.” 

”I think many have shared that particular question,” Lana smiled. “I would say she’s extraordinary as herself, no labels needed.” 

Vette suddenly put down the gauntlet she was polishing and took a deep breath. All the mirth drained from her face as she closed her eyes. “Hearing someone say that she was dead today…that meeting with Saresh…it was horrible. I felt like I was back on the Fury. She freed us from the airlock on Darth Marr’s ship and then told us to go, you know. She could have gotten on the ship and escaped with us. But she stood with Marr. We got to hyperspace…and then we cried. All of us. Did you know Talz can cry? I didn’t.”

“Viri’s told me that you are family to her. Before you two crossed paths again, she asked about you more than anyone else. Every single week – sometimes every single day – she wanted to know if we’d found her team yet. Found you. It got to the point where I answered the question before she asked it, because I knew it was coming.” 

“I love that weird Sith like my own sister,” Vette said, and Lana realized that she was crying. “As far as I’m concerned, she _is_ my sister as much as Tivva is. Who’d have thought, right?” 

”Family is often comprised of the people we choose, I find,” Lana mused. 

”Viri’s said the same.”

”…I keep hearing my name out here,” Viri said as she emerged from the ‘fresher, wrapped in a bathrobe. She stopped at the pile of polished armor. “Oh, Vette, no, you don’t have to do that…” 

”I wanted to. Okay?” Vette said. 

”Okay,” Viri agreed. “Thank you. Have you been crying?” 

”You know, it would be really, really cool if you didn’t disappear or be presumed dead or drop out of communication all the time. Just for a while, could you please try not to scare everyone senseless?” 

“I’ll certainly do my best.” 

”Don’t take any unnecessary risks, okay?”

”When have you ever known me to do that?” Viri said. 

”Are you serious? Let’s see. All the times you’ve jumped off buildings because you can’t be bothered to look for the stairs,” Vette said, ticking them off on her fingers. “I can’t even count all of those. Walking into random caves, because oh, it’s not at all likely there’s a beast or two there…”

“Disabling power stations when there’s no time to do so,” Lana chimed in helpfully. 

“Lana, has she ever told you about the time she voluntarily took poison on Tatooine and we had fifteen minutes to find the antidote before it killed her? That’s a fun story.” 

“She did _what_?” Lana gasped. 

”It was a tribal challenge!” Viri insisted.

”You weren’t in their tribe!” Vette retorted. “It’s been, oh, nine years, and I am still peeved about that one. Do you know how hard it is to drag a gigantic Sith Lord through the desert, because she is completely out of it and hallucinating about pink dancing Jawas…because she took poison…but you have to keep going so she won’t die? You threw my back out!” 

”Gigantic?!” Viri scowled.

Lana strode across the room to stand next to Viri. She was not a short woman, but Viri was more than a full head taller than she was. 

”Well,” Lana grinned. “‘Statuesque’ is a far more accurate adjective, my love. But I am amused that you focused on that part of Vette’s statement. Not the risk, not the poison, not the…Vette, did you say she was seeing pink dancing Jawas?!”

Viri threw up her hands. “I’m completely outnumbered here, aren’t I?”

“She’s figured it out, Vette,” Lana laughed. 

”Crazy Sith Channel on ‘serious,’ please.” Vette said. “I just don’t want you to die.” 

“I don’t want to leave any of you.” Viri hugged Vette. “If I’m out of communication, it’s not by choice. I haven’t done any poison-ingesting rituals in a long time, either. I prefer being alive, you know. I won’t die on you if I can possibly help it.” 

”Yeah, please don’t die _on_ me. That armor’s really heavy and there are all those pointy bits, and you weigh a lot more than I do…we’d have one squished and punctured Twi’lek.”

Both Lana and Viri had to laugh at that. 

”You have company,” Vette said with a wink. “So I won’t cry in your room any more tonight. Remember, though, I don’t want you going anywhere, Sister Sith.” 

“Neither do I, Vette,” Viri said. After a fierce hug, the Twi’lek went on her way, closing and locking the door behind her.

“I echo Vette’s sentiments,” Lana said, quietly. "Not being able to reach you is a special kind of horror for me."

”It's terrible for me, too. You know I want us to be together, always,” Viri whispered. She peppered Lana’s lips with gentle kisses and drew her into a warm embrace. Lana’s arms tightened around Viri’s waist as she nestled against the taller woman’s chest.


End file.
